B.C. colleges, universities to lose ESL funding

B.C. colleges and universities that teach English as a second language to recent immigrants were told Tuesday their funding will probably end on March 31.

The province knew changes would be coming since the federal government announced in 2012 that it would be cancel the Canada-B.C. Immigration Agreement, which funded the training, said Amrik Virk, B.C.’s advanced education minister.

“We are still waiting for an official decision on how the federal government plans to deliver English language training on April 1, 2014,” Virk said in a statement. “However, it seems unlikely that the funding that flows through the ministry to institutions will be replaced.”

The cut amounts to about $17 million, which paid for more than 9,000 ESL students to learn English tuition-free last year. Vancouver Community College provided 46 per cent of the ESL training under the program, with Camosun College on Vancouver Island second at 14 per cent, according to the Advanced Education Ministry.

Virk said immigrants can still get ESL training through not-for-profit and community organizations that will negotiate directly with the federal government for funding.

NDP advanced education critic David Eby said the change is a “really big deal” because there may be a significant gap in the availability of classes while organizations get funding and start programs.

Without English, Eby said, immigrants are left unable to work or able to function only in minimum wage jobs. “If these programs are closed to people, you’re closing a whole cohort of new Canadians out of the economy.”

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